Inside Slant

May 16, 2013|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

NFL Team Report - Chicago Bears - INSIDE SLANT

In his one season of major-college football, Bears first-round pick Kyle Long started his only five games at left guard. But he lined up exclusively at right guard during the weekend's rookie minicamp practice inside the Walter Payton Center.

The adjustment isn't a problem, according to the middle son of NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long.

"My hand's still on the ground, and I'm still supposed to block somebody," Long said. "It's just a different side."

After Sunday's final practice, Long won't be back with the Bears until training camp begins in late July. Because of an NFL rule that prohibits a rookie from practicing with his pro team before his school's final exams have been completed, Long will miss all the OTAs (May 13-June 6), and the full-team minicamp (June 11-13). Oregon's finals aren't completed until June 14.

"It's frustrating," Long said. "But due to the quarter system, like a lot of Pac-12 guys, I'm going to have to wait.

"Obviously I'm behind the eight-ball a little bit. But I'll have the (playbook) installations ahead of time. It's kind of like if you're missing a week of school (because) you're sick and you want to get the lesson plan from your teacher ahead of time. That's kind of how I'm treating this."

Bears coach Marc Trestman doesn't consider the situation an insurmountable obstacle for Long, who is expected to contend for a starting job as a rookie.

"We've got a lot of different ways of communicating with him," Trestman said. "We can show tape to him and sit in a meeting with him and watch tape with him right on a computer."

Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer, a long-time NFL offensive line coach, will be in communication with Long after the staff makes assessments following their review of film from this weekend's work.

"Kyle is a very smart guy," Trestman said. "We know he's going to dig in and do everything he can to get himself ready -- not just physically, but mentally. It's a minimal obstacle and nothing we can't handle. The opportunity to embrace it and get it done is something we're up to, or we wouldn't have made the pick."

Emery told SiriusXM Radio, "Brian was a great player and still is a great player. I have the utmost respect for Brian. As I've told people before, I've got far too many gray hairs to never say never. But obviously we've made an investment in terms of bringing a couple of key veterans in and drafting a couple rookies. So I would say that that is less likely to happen than more likely."

Nothing against seventh-round picks, but Wilson is tall, fast and fluid, exhibits soft hands, excellent agility and the timing and leaping ability to win jump balls.

As a true freshman at Washington State in 2010 he caught 55 passes for 1,006 yards and followed that up the next year by setting school records with 82 receptions for 1,388 yards. Last season, after nine games, he was leading the team with 52 catches and 813 yards when he quit after feuding with coach Mike Leach and his staff over playing time following a one-game suspension.

Mostly because of that, the 6-3 Wilson dropped to the final round despite running a 4.51 40 at the Combine.

"The way I looked at it, I was just happy I got drafted," Wilson said. "I was just happy that I got a second opportunity, another chance to play football again."

Wilson had to explain his situation to the Bears before the draft, saying, "It was just a mistake on my part in the way I handled everything, and I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to harm this franchise. (I had to) try to get their trust, tell them what I did and what happened and just tell them the truth."

Wilson had a season of college eligibility left, but he would have had to sit out a full year if he transferred to another Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school. He opted for the draft instead.

"I always figured if I worked hard I could be in the NFL," he said. "I have the opportunity, and I'm going to take full advantage of it. That was my mindset: to get to the NFL because I knew what I was capable of doing, and I just had that confidence that I could someday make it."

To do that, the spindly, 184-pound Wilson needs to get bigger and stronger. He did just seven reps of 225 pounds in the bench press at the Combine and, looking at his thin frame, it's hard to believe he did even that many. In his defense, he's the youngest player at the rookie minicamp.